Do you ever think about the legacy that you will leave behind? Do think about how your actions will have ripple effects in your family for generations. But are we not forgiven for our past mistakes by God when we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord.

This issue has been on my mind lately because of current events locally. I have had to attend the funerals of the father of a friend and the husband of a church member within the last several weeks. And then there has been an issue of a person that was not a close friend but more than a mere acquaintance that has been accused of crimes regarding dissemination of pornography among people who are less than 18 years old. In all of these things, it had me considering the issue of legacy and its relationship to forgiveness in Christ.

In the funerals, I heard stories of great legacy. These two men were honored and revered by their families. You can usually tell at funerals whether people are struggling to say nice things about the deceased or whether they are being sincere. In both cases, those who spoke of the deceased were joyously and sometimes tearfully speaking of the things that they respected about the man, the father, the husband, the employee, etc. that these men were. “He was a good man!” was often said at each of these funerals. These were God-fearing men. These were men who led their families well. These were men of quiet generosity not just at church but in the community with those that needed help. These were men that knew what his sons needed in their father in one case or was perfectly suited to be the father of all daughters in the other case. Respect. Honor. Dignity. Generosity. Christ-following. Humble. Hard Working. Integrity. All of these adjectives were lauded upon these men. I am sure that each had their faults and had their screw ups with their kids and their wives but nothing profound that permanently damaged their overall legacy. Their legacy was one of respect and honor. They were able to pass on that legacy to their children. Each of them appear to people of honor and respect and all of that they are they credit to the leadership of their father. Now, that’s legacy my friends. These men were not internationally famous, nationally famous, famous in our state, regionally famous, and probably were not well-known even in our community outside their sphere of influence of church, work, and friends. But the legacy that they have passed down to their progeny is one that I certainly want to have said of me.

What will my children and my wife think of me when they have to write my eulogy after I am gone. What legacy am I leaving to him by my actions during my life? What will they say of me? And how will the actions, mistakes, victories, character, how I acted in crunch moments, how far down the genealogical tree will my actions of my lifetime reverberate and shake the branches of my progeny.

That same question of legacy and the impact of our actions is what I thought about in the situation where a person I know stands accused of a crime and the evidence is pretty heavy that he did it (but we will reserve the right here to say that he is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law not in the court of public opinion). If he is found guilty of the crime of which he stands accused, what will be the impact of his actions on his family and future generations of his family. What impact will this moment in time have on the generations of his family to come. What will be the legacy of these actions? Sure, we are praying for the redemption of this man from his active and ongoing sin of which he stands accused. We pray that he will be repentant and seek restoration. However, we cannot pray that the consequences of his be removed his life. There are simply some immutable facts of life. Sin has its consequences. We must deal with our sins even after salvation. Sins that we commit before our salvation in the Lord will still visit us in their consequences even after salvation. Just because we accept Christ as our Savior does not mean that we are automatically at that moment absolved of the consequences of our prior sins. God allows those things to play themselves out in our lives as lessons to us as to (1) why we needed Jesus in the first place and (2) as reminders of what sin does to our lives. What will be the far ranging impacts on this man’s life that will be felt for years and decades to come. It will follow him for the rest of his career. He will have to change careers. His earnings potential will be severely impacted by the choices that will be made. These things will happen and cannot be changed. We pray that he will repent, be redeemed from his sin, and be restored to the body of Christ, but his legacy has been impacted. His own life has been impacted. Sin is more than just the moment. It has trailing effects on our lives and the lives of the people we love.

My own situation right now in life is impacted by critical path decisions that I have made in my life. These decisions permanently alter the path that your life is on. These decisions effect your legacy. These decisions affect how your children perceive life because of the choices that we make as parents. Legacy. What’s your legacy going to be? We can say that what we do right now does not reverberate down the generations but we are just kidding ourselves. Our sins will visit us upon the next generations after us. Sin has it consequences. We must think about that when we are considering doing things that are in contrast to what the Bible tells us. We must think about the impact it will have not just on us but on the people we love and the generations after us. Because, even though we might be redeemed from our sins through humble repentance before the Lord and receiving His forgiveness through Jesus Christ, our sins’ consequences will play themselves out in our lives. Reduced influence. Temporary setbacks. Lost potential. You name it. Sin has its reverberating and sometimes continuing effects on our lives and those who come after us.

That idea of legacy is what I thought of when I read about the land given to the tribe of Reuben. Reuben’s clan was given desert land, basically. That is the lasting impact of the legacy of Reuben himself. It got me to thinking about what was said at these funerals about these two men’s legacy and about the man who stands accused that I know. What is his legacy going to be? And then looking inwardly at myself, what is going to be my legacy? Let’s read the passage, now, Joshua 13:15-23:

15 This is what Moses had given to the tribe of Reuben, according to its clans:

16 The territory from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the middle of the gorge, and the whole plateau past Medeba 17 to Heshbon and all its towns on the plateau, including Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon, 18 Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, 19 Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth Shahar on the hill in the valley, 20 Beth Peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth— 21 all the towns on the plateau and the entire realm of Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled at Heshbon. Moses had defeated him and the Midianite chiefs, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba—princes allied with Sihon—who lived in that country. 22 In addition to those slain in battle, the Israelites had put to the sword Balaam son of Beor, who practiced divination. 23 The boundary of the Reubenites was the bank of the Jordan. These towns and their villages were the inheritance of the Reubenites, according to their clans.

In Genesis 49:3-4, we read, “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it.” Reuben, the firstborn of the twelve sons, was to Jacob his “might, the first sign of my strength” (Genesis 49:3), indicating that to him were all the rights and prerogatives of a firstborn son. At first, he excelled in honor and power, as is fitting the firstborn son, but Jacob declares that Reuben “will no longer excel” (verse 4) due to his sin of incest with Bilhah, his father’s concubine wife (Genesis 35:22). Although that sin was committed forty years prior, there was left an indelible spot on Reuben’s character and that of his posterity. By committing this uncleanness with his father’s wife, there would be reproach upon his tribe and the family, to whom he ought to have been an example and a blessing. He forfeited the prerogatives of the birthright, and his dying father demoted him, although he did not disown or disinherit him. He would still have all the privileges of a son, but not of the firstborn.

Jacob’s sad prophecy for Reuben certainly came true. No judge, prophet, ruler, or prince came from that tribe, nor any person of renown except Dathan and Abiram, who were noted for their rebellion against Moses. Reuben’s tribe chose a settlement on the other side Jordan, a further indication of the loss of godly influence on his brothers to which his birthright entitled him. Although Reuben was the firstborn, the kingdom was given to Judah and the priesthood to Levi, leaving Reuben’s tribe to be small and non-influential.

We learn from Reuben that those who dabble in sin must not expect to save their reputation or maintain a positive influence upon others. Although we know our sins were nailed to the cross and we are forever forgiven for past sins, we still have to suffer the consequences of those sins, which include remorse and a loss of reputation and influence. Reuben’s sin left an indelible mark upon him and his family. As Christians, we must understand that dishonor is a wound that will not be healed without a scar. We can been redeemed from our sin and be healed from it but our sins will leave scars on us.

What is your legacy going to be? What sins are you committing right now that you are justifying as OK that you don’t want to give up and you are reveling in going to do to your legacy? What are our unrepentant sins going to do to us in this lifetime and what effects are they going to have on our families and the future generations? Is that sin worth all the cost? Repent. Turn away. Wash your hands of it. Seek forgiveness from God. Seek restoration through forgiveness. What’s your legacy going to be?